pal·met·to / pä(l)ˈmetō; pal-/ • n. (pl. -os) a fan palm (Sabal and other genera), esp. one of a number occurring from the southern US to northern South America. Its several species include the cabbage palmetto (S. palmetto), which is the state tree of Florida (where it is better known as the sabal palm) and South Carolina.

Palmetto ★½ 1998 (R)

Contemponoir that misses the mark has bitter ex-con Harry (Harrelson) partnered with seductress Rhea (Shue) in a phony kidnapping of her step-daughter Odette (Sevigny). Newly released from the joint after a rotten frame-up job, Harry is lured back by ex Nina (Gershon), to the backwater town that sent him up, where he once again winds up in trouble as all three women go to work on him. Originality and character development go AWOL, as the normally adept Harrelson flounders for an identity alongside Shue's broad characterization of a vamp who teeters on high heels and the brink of satire. Feels like Tennessee Williams as written by Joe Eszterhas. From Rene Raymond's (a.k.a. James Hadley Chase) novel, “Just Another Sucker.” 114m/C VHS, DVD . Angela Featherstone, Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue, Michael Rapaport, Gina Gershon, Chloe Sevigny, Rolf Hoppe, Tom Wright; D: Volker Schlondorff; W: E. Max Frye; C: Thomas Kloss; M: Klaus Doldinger.

palmetto small species of palm. XVI (palmito). — Sp. palmito dwarf fan-palm, dim. of palma PALM1; later assim. to It. dims. in -etto.

palmetto palm See SABAL.